Journalists Tweet Their PR Pet Peeves

May 2, 2012
compiled by Raschanda Hall, Global Media Relations Manager, Business Wire/Chicago
Recently @muckrack asked journalists to share some of their pitching pet peeves in a #muckedup chat. I’ve compiled my favorites for your learning pleasure.
  1. Share
    “@muckrack I automatically delete any pitch that begins, “Dear Sir/Madam”
    Ashley MayoAshleyKMayo
    Wed, May 02 2012 10:41:11
  2. Share
    “@muckrack Don’t start emails with “how are you?” when we’ve never met #muckedup
    Jen Wiecznerjenwieczner
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:52:25
  3. Share
    “@muckrack pet pitch peeve: “since you just wrote about ______, thought you’d be interested in _____.” No, I just wrote about it.
    Micheline MaynardMickiMaynard
    Wed, May 02 2012 10:36:17
  4. Share
    “.@muckrack pitch peeve: leading w/ “I just read your AMAZING story about X, and..” Flattery has gotten better PRs than you nowhere, dear.
    David Landseldavidlandsel
    Wed, May 02 2012 10:54:54
  5. Share
  6. Share
    “@muckrack PR peeve: pitches for “story ideas” (no, that’s my job) or for “free articles” (seriously?!)
    cmangiscmangis
    Wed, May 02 2012 10:50:53
  7. Share
    “Pet #PR peeves: (1) no photos or links to photos; (2) UK releases that arrive the day after the US release; (3) PR not around. cc @muckrack
    Jack Schofieldjackschofield
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:54:07
  8. Share
    “@muckrack Mistaking me for a .com writer when I write for a monthly mag. Don’t pitch me tax tip stories when we’re working on July #muckedup
    Jen Wiecznerjenwieczner
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:50:24
  9. Share
    “
    @muckrack asking for questions ahead of time only to later give prepared and safe answers. #muckedup boring!!
    Erin (Scott) BellErinScottPR
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:56:39
  10. Share
    “@muckrack “Our CEO is in town this week, it would be useful for you to meet him!” Translated: “Oh crap, we need to look like a good PR team”
    Dave Leedavelee
    Wed, May 02 2012 10:54:52
  11. Share
    “@muckrack Pitching a source 2 days after a story was in the headlines. You are late and wasting my time.
    Debra BorchardtWallandBroad
    Wed, May 02 2012 10:45:08
  12. Share
    (Unsolicited) PR email of the day: ‘Please let me know you agree to the below embargo so I can send you a press release.’ (@muckrack)
    Nicholas Holmesrelaxedtravel
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:02:46
  13. Share
    “@muckrack Being asked by a PR to send a link to them *when* we write up the story. File under: ‘Dumb as a brick’. #muckedup
    Chris Lakelakey
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:53:58

  14. Oh, and then the tides turned: PR pros were asked to share their journalist pet peeves.

  15. Share
    “.@muckrack when 300 reporters email you at once during a crisis & then write “X couldn’t be reached for comment.” #muckedup
    Brandee Barkerbrandee
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:34:35
  16. Share
    “@muckrack Journos that never respond. A simple “not the right fit, send it to this colleague” helps me better target my pitch next time.
    Renae Godishrenaenoelle
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:42:40
  17. Share
    “.@muckrack Reporters who agree to briefings, then go MIA when it comes time to schedule #muckedup
    Sharon Dratchsdratch
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:04:33
  18. Share
    “@muckrack What used to annoy me was reporters assigned to cover high-tech who knew nothing about the topic
    LindaVandeVredeLindaVandeVrede
    Wed, May 02 2012 10:57:46
  19. Share
    “@muckrack main bugbear is rudeness (although i’d be tetchy if i was bombarded all day too i guess). we’re human too, we’re not punchbags
    Chris Owenwonky_donky
    Wed, May 02 2012 10:59:18
  20. Share
    “@muckrack ordering sample cakes for a “product review” aka the editor’s daughter’s 4th birthday. No product review appears #havingalaugh
    Susann JerrySusannjerry
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:03:38

  21. And yet another turn of events; Journalists decided to balance it out and offer some praise for PR done well.

  22. Share
    “@muckrack @jenwieczner I like “how are you”! Makes the pitch seem more human, less automated. #muckedup
    Ashley MayoAshleyKMayo
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:58:12
  23. Share
    “Exactly, @muckrack. Gotta be balanced, dont want to trash only. One more GREAT PR Move? Offering me an exclusive!!!! #muckedup
    Cassandra VinogradCassVinograd
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:29:06
  24. Share
    “RT @muckrack: RT @CassVinograd GOOD PR moves that make me happy: a quick call to verify I’m the right person to speak to, then emailed release #muckedup
    Michelle V. DouglasMichelleDouglas
    Wed, May 02 2012 11:30:25
  25. Share
    “The relaxed post-interview chatty time? That’s when we get some of our greatest quotes @CaroPRinLA #oldschool @muckrack
    Alyssa Danigelisadanigelis
    Wed, May 02 2012 12:19:38
  26. Cant’ get enough of the PR vs Journalist battle to build better working relationships?  Be sure to check out the Muck Rack Blog where they’ll be posting recaps of the ongoing conversation or catch up on the blog post that started the whole discussion.You can also check out the posts from Business Wire’s media relations team where we share tips directly from journalists across the world on how they like to be pitched and what catches their attention.

A lengthier post was originally storiifed by Raschanda Hall on May 2nd.

Leave a Comment » | Business Wire, journalism, Media Relations, MRT, Pitching, Public Relations, social media, Targeting | Permalink
Posted by raschandahall

Multimedia Continues to Drive Press Release Views – Now More than Ever!

April 23, 2012
by Sandy Malloy, Senior Information Specialist, Business Wire

Sandy Malloy, Senior Information Specialist

Facebook buys Instagram.  Experian Hitwise reports that Pinterest is now the #3 social site on the Web.  More than ever, the adage “show, don’t tell” applies to communications and communicators.

Adding multimedia to a press release tends to increase the number of online release views.  When I looked at a list of the most-viewed releases of the second half of 2011 to see how many were multimedia-enriched, I found some pretty startling numbers.

Of the top 500 English-language releases, about 75% had one or more photos or videos.  Out of all the English language releases that Business Wire distributes, only 5% include multimedia.   In other words, 5% of all our English language releases accounted for 75% of the 500 most-viewed releases in the last 6 months of last year.

We can’t really say that your release is 75% more likely to be viewed if you include photos or videos, or that it will receive 75% more views.  Nevertheless, it seems pretty clear to me that adding multimedia does help drive release views.

Consider the releases on the most-popular list that ran without multimedia:

  • Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility
  • Announcements from several huge pharmaceutical companies on the results of clinical trials or strategic initiatives
  • Major acquisitions and joint ventures involving public and/or well-known companies
  • One of the major video game manufacturers announcing a price drop

That the Google announcement was hugely popular was no surprise.  News from very large public companies is of inherent interest to the media and markets.  Acqusitions are almost always big news because of investor interest and because they can affect an entire industry.  Video game news, with or without multimedia, tends to be noticed.

Meanwhile, the variety of photos and videos that ran with the Top 500 releases was wide-ranging.  Some examples:

  • A river cleanup
  • A photo of sauces and condiments
  • Photos of existing DRAM technology and an innovative variation
  • Photos of the principals of 2 merging companies
  • A benchmarking study (graphic)
  • Pictures and/or video of contest winners
  • Ringing of the Opening Bell at the NYSE

What is clear to me from this list is that the potential for finding visuals to accompany–or to tell–a story is vast.

A release can be very technical but illustrated with a photo that its equally technical audience will appreciate.  The media do appreciate photos of people, and not just for personnel announcements.  (If those people are celebrities, so much the better, but it’s not a requirement.  Newspapers and business journals love to use photos of locals.)   Charts and graphs can be compelling.  Finally, there are some stories that seem to beg for photos or videos.  Among these are any releases announcing eye-catching new products; corporate social responsibility releases (show the river that’s being cleaned up, the electric car charging stations, the participants in the 10K run);and releases announcing corporate milestones.

Besides the potential bump in viewership,  using multimedia in conjunction with a good story can increase the chances a story will be used by broadcast media.  Broadcast monitoring service and Business Wire partner Critical Mention reported in one of their newsletters that the Yelp’s IPO announcement resulted in 395 hits on U.S. television stations; and these are over-the-air broadcasts, not postings on broadcast websites.  The story was a big one, of course, but the accompanying images were really colorful and exciting.  As Critical Mention described it, the release (what Business Wire calls a Smart News Release) was “loaded with newsy images and video.”

Besides the benefits of attracting attention to your release and giving journalists more reason to cover your news, there is at least one other benefit to using multimedia:  Your news can live longer.  I have seen many instances of photos being used months or even years after they originally ran.  An especially good photo of people or companies in the news can be used more than once, as in this example of Business Wire’s CEO Cathy Baron Tamraz shown with Warren Buffett in a 9/30/11 photo illustrating a 2/6/12 story.

Granted, being affiliated with Warren Buffett is an advantage when it comes to gaining attention.  But even companies that don’t have this advantage can still give their stories greater appeal, and “legs”, by supplementing them with multimedia.

3 Comments | Media Relations, multimedia, Press Release Optimization, Press Release Tips, Public Relations, Smart News Release | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

Business Wire’s Pilar Portela Named to Board of Local NAHJ Chapter

April 18, 2012

Pilar Portela, Media Relations Supervisor based in our Florida office, was recently named an at-large board member to the South Florida chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). Pilar has been a key player in recent years in developing Business Wire’s LatinoWire circuits, speaking on industry panels and cultivating relationships with Hispanic journalists and media properties.

Pilar Portela

Pilar Portela, Business Wire Media Relations Representative

According to Pilar, “Through my active participation in NAHJ South Florida I have found that it has brought me closer to the Hispanic media community (both traditional and social media). I have also been part of some really great media events such as our February Hispanic Elections panel discussion featuring Maria Elena Salinas of Univision. Last, I helped to raise books for a local underprivileged Miami school library through a NAHJ South Florida and Business Wire book drive”

Asked what she hopes to contribute via her NAHJ board membership, Pilar said, “Since the National NAHJ Convention in June 2010, I have been actively involved with establishing the NAHJ South Florida Chapter by helping to coordinate meetings and increasing local NAHJ awareness and membership. In the role of At Large Officer I intend to continue to be a big part of the Chapter Committee especially with large projects such as membership and fundraiser drives and also assist the Sponsorship, Event, and Charity Committees.”

Congratulations, Pilar!

1 Comment | Business Wire, LatinoWire, Media Relations | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

Seeing the Big Picture: How PR Pros Can Use Infographics to Tell a Story

April 17, 2012
by Shawnee Cohn, Media Relations Specialist, Business Wire/NY
MRT

Shawnee Cohn

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but what about a thousand hits? Defined as “graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge,” infographics are more likely to be shared via social media than your standard text article. Therefore, both journalists and PR professionals are taking notice of this visual phenomenon. (Need some examples? Take a look at this slideshow from Mashable).

Here at Business Wire, we encourage clients to create infographics and include them as Smart News release assets in their press releases. For example, Kaplan Test Prep recently utilized an infographic to summarize their annual survey results. Convio also offered a visual look at the data included within their press release about online giving, and Mashable later republished that same infographic.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

So if you’re a PR professional embarking on the infographic challenge, what do you need to know beforehand? The Publicity Club of New York recently hosted a discussion about these popular visual representations of data. The panel included:

Here are some highlights offered by the experts:

Infographics help us cope with information overload: With the abundance of raw data that is available to consumers today, the average person’s “attention span is declining,” and infographics are an effective way to spark a reader’s interest, says Spurlock. Pachal agreed, stating that infographics are “more clickable” than other multimedia, such as video, which may turn a reader off since it usually requires sound, as well as investing more time to watch. Consequently, including the word ‘Infographic’ in your press release headline is a great tactic to increase your number of hits.

Not all infographics are created equal: If you’re compiling numbers into a graphic, yet those numbers do not relate, the purpose of the infographic is lost, notes Spurlock. Bergmann agreed, suggesting that PR pros evaluate the usefulness of an infographic on a “story-to-story basis.” At the Associated Press, staffers are very interested in interactive graphics as well as animations. However, Neesa pointed out that “not every story renders well into a visual,” and PR pros should be cautious of jumping to the assumption that every poll translates into a legitimate news story. The panelists agreed that pitching an infographic that blatantly promotes your brand is a major faux pas. If your visual looks the least bit like propaganda, any legitimate news organization will be reluctant to post it, as it could hurt their brand value, says Bergmann.

Be clear and concise; editors and readers will thank you: One of the main advantages of creating an infographic is that it allows you to “mold and present information in a way that’s clear to the reader,” commented Bergmann. If you cram too much information into your graphic, you’re defeating its original purpose. Pachal mentioned that your infographic should easily translate to Pinterest, which drives much of the online traffic today. Whether you’re pitching an idea for an infographic or an actual infographic itself, make sure you are presenting “tabulated, nugget-style information,” suggests Neesa. Focus on how you can break the product/idea up; if your information is already organized for the visual staff at a news outlet, this makes their job that must easier. Lastly, stick to the facts, and facts only. The editorial team will vet and research the data you present before they post or link to your infographic, so you must be absolutely sure that your methodology and sampling are valid beforehand.

For more information on the Publicity Club of NY, visit www.publicityclub.org. You can get the latest news with photos/multimedia by registering at www.businesswire.com.

2 Comments | Media Relations, MRT, multimedia, social media | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

The World’s Biggest Media & Facebook – An Evolving Relationship

April 11, 2012

By Michel Rubini, International MRT Specialist – London

In 2007, Rupert Murdoch joked about Facebook overtaking MySpace as the most popular social networking site on the web.  Not long after, it was no laughing matter.

While Facebook might not be the best social networking site, or offer the best user experience, or even the most innovative solutions, it has been accepted as the standard by most internet users. Facebook has now reached the 600 million user mark, so it is no surprise that media organisations across the world are looking into ways to tap into this pool of potential readers.

At a recent News:Rewired event (a periodical digital journalism conference) in London, I listened to speakers from some of the world’s biggest media organisations explain how they are facing — and mostly embracing — Facebook.

The most enthusiastic evangelist was Martin Belam, User Experience Lead at The Guardian. Belam explained how their new Facebook application has been hugely successful. The application allows users to share Guardian content easily with their friends, and so far, six million people have downloaded it. One of the most exciting things, according to Belam, is that 54 percent of the users are under 24 – the kind of audience the Guardian has always aspired to reach.

Belam also explained that a younger audience means a younger kind of content becoming popular on the application. He denied there was any danger of a “dumbing down” The Guardian. “To my mind, if we are producing that content anyway – which we do – then why wouldn’t we want it to reach as wide an audience as possible?” he asked.

Belam also noted that there is growing evidence that the Facebook application alone is producing as many views for articles as the guardian.co.uk site, in practice doubling the amount of traffic a story gets.

Liz Heron, former social media editor of The New York Times and current director of social media and engagement with The Wall Street Journal, seemed to agree with Martin. “In the new landscape, the question is no longer whether we do social media, the question is how. How can we make our social media experiences stand out?”

She went on to note that fifty New York Times journalists offer Facebook subscription streams; and that all reporters have been encouraged lately to try Facebook, especially foreign correspondents. The advantage of Facebook, she said, is that it offers great crowdsourcing opportunities and can yield insightful comments and debates. However, the majority of New York Times journalists are still using Twitter. This is due to the fact that most journalists are aware of the dangers of mixing personal profiles with professional lives.

Nate Lanxon, editor of wired.co.uk was very clear about the importance of Facebook. He admitted that for 5 years WIRED had ignored Facebook.  That has recently changed. He has now printed a big photo of Mark Zuckerberg which is passed around the office. The person with the photo is the editor of the WIRED Facebook page for that day. The physical presence of the photo has helped the newsroom embrace Facebook in its daily publishing routine.

Lanxon said one of their key discoveries was that having a presence on Facebook wasn’t about driving fans to WIRED, it was about driving WIRED to fans. Lanxon also noted that Facebook follows its own news cycle. Facebook items seem to increase in traffic around the late afternoon and evenings, when users log in to check their latest feeds.

These three examples seem to show a clear shift in how well regarded (and global) news organisations are fully embracing the enormous readership potential offered by Facebook.

1 Comment | journalism, Media Relations, MRT, social media | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

Raleigh-Durham Media Discuss Journalism Trends, Press Release Tips

March 28, 2012

by Penny Sowards, Client Services Representative, Business Wire Charlotte

Business Wire hosted a “Meet the Media” luncheon at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center in Durham on March 15.  Panelists included Rick Martinez, News Director, NewsRadio 680 WPTF; Rick Smith, Business and Technology Manager, WRAL-TV, and David Bracken, Assistant Business Editor, The News & Observer. Kristi Lee-John, Principal at Crossroads Public Relations, was moderator.

Panelists discussed current trends in journalism and tips on effective pitching.

L-R: David Bracken, Rick Smith, Rick Martinez. Kristi Lee-John, moderator at podium

Important points made during the discussion:

  • Make sure someone from your company is available by phone or email at all times after making an announcement
  • Keep the lead information at the top
  • Have all answers available if possible
  • Pitch should always be professional and go to the appropriate reporters
  • Subject line on emails should be “to the point”
  • The company website is very important to journalists for gathering information
  • Blogs are a great tool and have great potential provided quality is there
  • Make an effort to contact the media before 3 p.m.
  • No jargon-filled releases

The journalists all agreed that press releases are important and relevant in conveying news to the media. Specific guidelines were discussed on what the media deems a good press releases:

  • Headlines should be clear and to the point
  • The focus of the news should be at the beginning of the release
  • Bullet points are a great tool to create a clear and concise message to the reader
  • Multimedia and web links are great added features to make the release more informative and interesting.

For more upcoming local Business Wire events or to see what’s coming up in our award-winning webinar series, visit our events page or follow Business Wire events on Twitter, hashtag #bwchat.

2 Comments | Business Wire, Business Wire Events, Media Relations, Pitching, Press Release Tips | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Amy Yen, Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

The Ten Commandments of Pitching

March 21, 2012

PR professionals and members of the news media deal in information, with the PR side selling it and the media serving as potential buyers. Like any buyer-seller relationship, deals are not always struck. But, there are ways sellers can improve their chances of interesting buyers in their information – and can develop better long-term relationships with individual media outlets – if they keep in mind these 10 commandments of how to pitch a story, as told by Mark Dodosh, editor of Crain’s Cleveland Business.

1. Thou shalt know thy audience. (i.e., who are you trying to reach?)
2. Thou shalt understand thy media outlets. (i.e., who do they reach and what are their needs?)
3. Thou shalt be precise and concise with thy pitch.
4. Thou shalt be prepared to make the right people available to a reporter.
5. Thou shalt be satisfied with singles and doubles, rather than expecting to hit home runs.
6. Thou shalt not pitch “angles.”
7. Thou shalt not make a promise of exclusivity to more than one media outlet.
8. Thou shalt not present false, misleading or unsubstantiated information in thy pitch.
9. Thou shalt not expect the story to be tailored to thy specifications.
10. Thou shalt not pout if the answer is “no.” (i.e., “Sorry, but we’re not interested.”)
Ten Commandments of Pitching

Click to enlarge and print for your own convenience!

2 Comments | journalism, Media Relations, MRT, Pitching | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

Social Media Week Miami Panel Identifies Economic Development Benefits of Social Media

March 15, 2012

Corporations, non-profits organizations and professional communicators around the world took part in Social Media Week this past

Pilar Portela

Pilar Portela, Business Wire Media Relations Representative

February.  Pilar Portela, Media Relations Supervisor and Business Wire LatinoWire Representative served as a panelist at a discussion hosted by Latinos in Social Media (LATISM) South Florida that focused on social media for economic development.

Panelists Included:

Social Media Week Panel

L-R: Natascha Otero, Brenda Leguisamo, Pilar Portela, Ernesto Sosa, Jorge Fernandez, Blanca Stella Mejia, and Carlos Pedraja

Social Media is not just about marketing or technology

Rodriguez stated that, aside from social media being about marketing and technology, more and more it’s about how a product today is made or made better collaboratively. For non-government and government organizations it’s about how to raise money.  Increasingly for all it’s about how work gets done. This is something that impacts both big businesses and small businesses.

Pedraja talked about how Google not only caters to big businesses but makes sure it is providing small businesses the online search tools that will allow for collaboration to happen instantaneously and speed up the business practice. For Google collaborating with businesses is in their DNA.  You can find a host of Google Apps for Businesses online.

International Trade and Social Media are a Great Mix

Leguisamo stated that in Miami it’s increasingly important to create more cash flow between businesses both locally and internationally. Using social media to increase sales outside of the country can hugely impact the local market.

When the real estate market crashed in South Florida, ONE Sotheby’s was forced to look for new ways to generate interest in the local market. Fernandez says ONE Sotheby’s used social media to tap into the interest of foreign buyers. They madetheir Twitter, Facebook, blog and website available in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese. As a result, in 2011, 60% of their residential sales in Miami came from foreign buyers.

Having the right mix – SEO, Social Media and Sharing

When it comes to the communication outreach efforts of Business Wire, Portela says

“We see clients using a number of tools to not only get their messages across and extend the life of their press releases but to have a web presence and build relationships with media in both traditional and social media newsrooms as well. Having the right mix is not an `or’ proposition but an `and’ proposition to conduct business today. You have to leverage mobile, social media and traditional communication strategies.”

In retrospect, each panelist had a different take on how social media has helped their industry but all agreed that collaboration and communication is the key to building a new vision to power the economy.

To view the live streamed panel discussion visit: http://new.livestream.com/smwmiami/socialmediaforeconomicdevelopment/videos/160007

 Photos courtesy of Blanca Stella Mejia, Latism South Florida.

2 Comments | LatinoWire, Media Relations, MRT, social media, Targeting | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

Journalist Networking Secrets from Inside the Wire

March 13, 2012

by Raschanda Hall, Global Media Relations Manager, Business Wire/Chicago

The purpose of media relations was beat into my head by my college PR professor — she often said, “The goal is to develop mutually beneficial relationships with the media.”

This definition very closely mirrors the Public Relations Society of America’s new definition of Public Relations. Only she never gave me an exact formula for achieving that goal.

So we decided to share our advice on how Business Wire’s Media Relations Team uses networking events and journalism groups to build relationships with members of the media.  One thing we’ve learned; while starting these relationships may happen in email or social networks, building them will require more face-to-facing and less “Facebooking.”

Luis Guillen

Luis Guillen

Networking Events – The Introduction

Ice breaking is an art form but it is not brain surgery, especially if you do your homework first.  Luis Guillen, our media relations representative for Southern California, says he researches the media people he expects to see at upcoming events beforehand.  “I like sports, so knowing what schools they went to helps me use sports and hometown information to connect.” Luis bonded with several reporters over small hometown familiarities at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ convention in Florida this past summer.  This led to new media connections he’s further fostered since returning to Los Angeles.

We’ve been taught to master our elevator pitch, but sometimes you have to take the stairs.  Maryana Bradas, who supervises our entire east coast team of media relations specialists, says:

Maryana Bradas

“Engage in casual conversation,” especially when seated at a luncheon table.  “As long as they are relatively talkative your discussion will go all over the place.  Both parties will get a chance to talk about what they do and you can tell if you will have a good fit for further connecting.”

Maryana sits on the Press Club of Cleveland’s Board of Directors and attends the Society of Professional Journalists’ regional and national conventions. “As the conversation winds down you can go for the business card exchange.  That’s a natural progression.”

The Association of Women Journalists – Chicago(AWJ) has only in recent years established an associate level of membership.

Karen Kring

Karen Kring

Karen Kring, past president of the chapter, warns against pitching their members at events:

“Pitching is for when they are on the clock more formally. Turn it around; become the reporter . . . You not only want to know their beat, but what specifically within their beat they are paying most attention to so that you’ll know what kind of information or stories they might be receptive to in the future. If you have a story in mind, ask them if they’d be receptive to your follow up with them later.”

Journalist Groups – Getting in and Standing out

Raschanda Hall

Raschanda Hall

I take an alphabet soup approach to networking.  I’m everywhere, all the time.  NABJ, PCC, SPJ, SABEW, AWJ, ONA etc.  I talk to everybody and give every discussion my properly undivided attention, but to really connect with reporters through journalist organizations you have to put in some work; committee work and chapter board member work.  In these roles your work is selfless, and when done right, you build trust and get more immediate access to editors and reporters who can help you when you need it.  Now, this won’t save you from a front page crisis, but it could get you the heads-up that it’s coming.  An organization I was once involved in turned down sponsorship money from a competitor because they felt the competitor was trying to buy their way into the position I had gained through sweat equity.  In that single act my volunteer efforts paid off.

Dawn Roberts is Managing Partner of KD Communications in Delaware.  She also serves as Associate Member Board Representative

Dawn Roberts

for the National Association of Black Journalists.  It’s a position she is passionate about.  NABJ’s annual convention draws thousands of reporters and hundreds of PR people every year.  Her advice to PR folks: “Attend media events so that you have an opportunity to meet journalists in person. And volunteer for a media organization. [It’s] a great way to meet journalists!”

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Posted by raschandahall

Is The Next Big Thing a Lot of Smaller Things?

March 7, 2012
by Chris Metinko, Media Relations Specialist, Business Wire/San Francisco
Chris Metinko

Chris Metinko

Remember MySpace?

Remember when Facebook was going to be the next big thing?

In social media — just as in everything — there always is the “next thing,” and many are pointing to the exploding popularity of niche social networks as exactly that. Many such sites have seen tremendous growth in the past year, as they cater to specific interests, hobbies and likes.

According to the online data measurement firm comScore, the online virtual pinboard site Pinterest saw the third largest percentage jump in unique visitors from December 2011 to January 2012 — behind only the IRS’s and the Department of Education’s websites. Also according to comScore, it became the fastest user site ever to hit 10 million monthly visitors.

As Business Wire media reps attended programs held in San Francisco during February’s Social Media Week, some of the talk was not on the titans of social networking — Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter et al. — but rather these niche sites that seem to be taking up more and more of social networkers’ time. According to some officials in the burgeoning new category of social media, the migration of users is easily explained.

“There’s a lot of noise in the system right now,” said Oliver Hsiang with StumbleUpon, a search engine that creates virtual communities to rate and rank search results. “People want something to filter through the stuff you don’t care about.”

Niche sites allow users to focus on certain subjects and likes instead of Facebook’s all-encompassing style, which some can find hard to navigate. Sites such as Reddit, a social news site where users post, rate and rank news stories, have gained increased notoriety and users. Jena Donlin, business development manager with Reddit, said the site even allows users into different communities and subcategories to more narrowly focus on interests.

Such niche sites also can potentially be gold for journalists, because they reach a specific, targeted audience. For instance, if a reporter is writing about weight-loss and wants to talk to someone trying to lose weight, going to the uber-popular social network DailyBurn seems logical. If someone is writing about the public’s take on a new, hot restaurant, going to food-obsessed network Foodspotting should do the trick. While these sites may not reach the audience numbers Facebook does, a journalist knows the site’s members are extremely interested in their specific topic or beat, and the site can let writers know what people are talking about on a more regional or national level — not limiting reporters by geography.

Despite the current popularity some of these sites, they still face obstacles in their battle for users’ time. One, obviously, is they are exactly what they are suppose to be — niche sites — meaning they are not going to interest everyone.

Donlin said increased popularity also can bring issues, as it can become increasingly difficult to “keep up with the conversation” on sites. Hsiang added niche sites also face the same problem nearly every website eventually confronts — coming up with fresh and new content to keep users coming back and spending time on the site instead of doing other things like watching television, reading or using other social media.

“You compete for discretionary time with everything,” Hsiang said.

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Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

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